unidentified white egret, Waitakaruru

[Ian Southey]

Today was census day for the Firth of Thames and I was fairly busy on my beat with lots to find and count. At the start, in from the corner of Canal East Rd and the main road I saw an egret amongst the White-faced Herons. I got slightly better access from one of the farm houses but never got close. As far as I could tell it was about the same size and shape as a White-faced Heron with a yellow bill - didn't see the legs. This might mean it was an Intermediate Egret - it didn't appear to be a White Heron or a Cattle Egret from what I could see.

You can only spend so long counting one bird and still be taken seriously so I moved on and finished my job. On the way home I looked again but most of the birds that had been there were gone and I couldn't find it. Presumably this means it was roosting over the high tide.

Ian